One of the most important concerns in building envelope methodology is the air and water barrier located behind the exterior skin of the building. Since the exterior panel typically is a vented element, it generally has marginal performance rating as an air barrier and may even permit wind driven rain through its joinery. Thus, the interface of the air barrier element with the wall system perimeter and penetration trim and corner transitions must be carefully detailed and inspected, as well as the system drainage details.
The successful design of a rainscreen system relies heavily on the performance and installation of an air and water barrier. A properly designed exterior element of a good rainscreen wall system is one that will protect the air and water barrier and prevent most, if not all, of the water from entering the wall cavity from the exterior, while allowing the wall cavity to vent and drain any moisture that does enter. Moisture control within the wall cavity is an important concern in an effort to mitigate the potential for mold growth.
Current building envelope methodology requires multi-component systems to be used to achieve the thermal and moisture protection for the building interior. Present systems use such multi-component wall systems to achieve the barrier wall protection required with rainscreen panel system design. FIG. 1 illustrates such a traditional multi-component wall construction, shown generally at 10.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wall construction 10 includes wall framing 12 which is connected to the building structure 13 via a structural connection, shown at 14. A barrier element 16 is attached to the outer surface of the wall framing 12. Building wrap 18 is typically provided about the barrier element 16, with building insulation 20 applied over the building wrap 18. The barrier element 16, building wrap 18 and building insulation 20 of the wall construction 10 achieve the air, water, vapor and thermal barrier required with traditional rainscreen panel system designs. However, a problem with such traditional multi-component wall constructions is that the connectors, or tie-ins, for exterior facade panel systems typically need to penetrate the barrier formed by the multiple components in order to provide structural support for the exterior panels. As shown in FIG. 1, the exterior facade panel connector 22 extends through the barrier formed by the insulation 20, building wrap 18 and barrier element 16, and connects to the wall framing 12 to provide structural support for the exterior facade panels 24. This is because neither the insulation 20, the building wrap 18 nor the barrier element 16 are designed to provide structural support. Thus, in order to attach the exterior facade panel system 24 to the building, the air, water, vapor and thermal barrier of the traditional multi-component wall construction 10 must be compromised.
Additionally, during construction, the multi-component wall construction 10 can typically require multiple trades to execute the work. One group will put up the wall framing 12. Then another group may attach the barrier element 16. Yet another group may attach the building wrap 18. And still another group may attach the building insulation 20. Use of multiple trades during construction has the potential of becoming a trade coordination issue that can not only delay construction, but can complicate the identification of installation errors, thus resulting in system failure.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the above-identified problems.